Some of us have seen the bumper sticker that reads: "When life hands you a lemon, make lemonade!" It is easier to smile at that statement than to practice it, but the basic philosophy is sound. In fact, it is Biblical. Throughout the Bible are people who turned defeat into victory and trial into triumph. Instead of being victims, they became victors.
In the Book of James, James tells us that we can have this same experience today.
James said: "My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. Let the lowly brother glory in his exaltation, but the rich in his humiliation, because as a flower of the field he will pass away. For no sooner has the sun risen with a burning heat than it withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beautiful appearance perishes. So the rich man also will fade away in his pursuits. Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him" James 1:1 - 12, NKJV, emphasis added).
No matter what the trials may be on the outside (James 1:1 - 12) or the temptations on the inside (read James 1:13 - 27), through faith in christ we can experience victory. The result of this victory is spiritual maturity.
Obedience to four imperatives
If we are going to turn trials into triumphs, we must obey four imperatives appear in the above verses - Count (James 1:2), know (James 1:3), let (James 1:4, 9 - 11), and ask (James 1:5, 6). Or, to put it another way, there are four essentials for victory in trials - a joyful attitude, an understanding mind, a surrendered will, and a hear that wants to believe.
Let us consider, in some details, these four essentials:
1. A joyful attitude - count (James 1:12)
Outlook determines outcome, and attitude determines action. God tells us to expect trial. It is not "if you fall into various trials," but, "when you fall into various trials."
The believer who expects his Christian life to be easy is in for a shock.
Jesus warned His disciples: "In the world you have tribulations; but of good cheer, I have overcome the world" (John 16:33).
Paul told his converts that "we must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God" (Acts 14:22).
Because we are God's "scattered people" and not God's "sheltered people," we must experience trials. We cannot always expect everything to go our way. Some trials come simple because we ar human - sickness, accidents, disappointments, even seeming tragedies. Other trials came because we are Christians.
Peter emphasizes this in his first Epistle: "Beloved, do no think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; ..." (1 Peter 4:12).
Satan fights us, the world opposes us, and this makes for a life of battle. The trials of life are not all alike; they are like variegated yarn that the weaver uses to make a beautiful rug. God arranges and mixes the colors and experiences of life. The final product is a beautiful things for His glory.
The key word is "count." It is a financial term, and it means "to evaluate." Paul used it several times in Philippians 3. When Paul became a Christian, he evaluated his life and set new goals and priorities. Things that were once important to him became "rubbish" (Phil. 3:8), in the light of his experience with Christ. When we face the trials of life, we muat evaluat them in the light of what God is doing for us.
This explains why the dedicated Christian can have joy in the midst of trials - he lives for the things that matter most. Even our Lord was able to endure the Cross because of "the joy that was set before Him" (Heb. 12:2). The joy of returning to heaven and sharing His glory with His Church (the Bride of Christ).
Our values determine our evaluations. If we value comfort more than character, the trial will upset us. If we value the material and physical more than the spiritual, we will not be able to "count it all joy." If we live only for the present and forget the future, then trial will make us bitter, not better. Job had the right outlook when he said: "But He knows the way that I take; when He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold" (Job 23:10).
So, when trials come, immediately give thanks to the Lord and adopt a joyful attitude. Look at trials through the eyes of faith. Outlook determines outcome; to end with joy, begin with joy!
2. An understanding mind - know (James 1:3)
There are three things about faith and trials (or testings) that a Christian needs to understand:
Firstly, faith is always tested. When God called Abraham to live by faith, He tested him in order to increase his faith. God always tests us to bring out the best; Satan tempts us to bring out the worst. The testing of our faith proves that we are truly born again.
Secondly, testing works for us, not against us. The word "trying" can be translated "approval." Again Peter helps us understand better: "... that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 1:7).
A gold prospector brings his ore sample into the assayer's office to be tested. It assures the prospector that he has a gold mine. God's approval of our faith is precious, because it assures us that our faith is genuine.
Thirdly, trials rightly used help us to mature. God wants to produce in our life - patience, endurance, and the ability to keep going when things are tough.
Paul said: "... but we also glory in tribulation, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope" (Rom. 5:3, 4).
In Scripture, perseverance (patience) is not a passive acceptance of circumstances. It is a courageous perseverance in the face of suffering and difficulty.
Immature people are always impatient; mature people are patient and persistent. Impatient and unbelief usually go togther, just as faith and patience do.
The writer of Hebrews said: "... but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises. For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise" (Heb. 6:12; 10:36, KJV).
God wants to make us patient because that is the key to every other blessing. The little child who does not learn patience will not learn much of anything else. When the believer learns to wait on the Lord, then God can do great things for him. Abraham ran ahead of the Lord, married Hagar, and brought great sorrows into his home (Gen. 16). Moses ran ahead of God, murdered a man, and had to spend 40 years with the sheep to learn patience (Acts 7:23 - 30). Peter almost killed a man in his impatience (John 18:10, 11).
The only way the Lord can develop patience and character in our lives is through trials. Endurance cannot be attained by reading a book, listening to a sermon, or even praying a prayer. We must go through the difficulties of life, trust God, and obey Him. The result will be patience and character. Knowing this, we can face trials joyfully. We know what trials will do in us and for us, and we know that the end result will bring glory to God.
3. A surrendered will - let (James 1:4)
God cannot build our character without our cooperation. If we resist Him, then He chastens us into submission. But if we submit to Him, then He can accomplish His work. He is not satisfied with a halfway job. God wants a perfect work; He wants a finished product that is mature and complete.
God's goal for our lives in maturity. It would be a tragedy if our children remained little babies. We enjoy watching them mature, even though maturity brings dangers as well as delights. Many Christians shelter themselves from the trials of life, and as a result, never grow up. God wants the "little children" to become "young men," and the "young men" He wants to become "fathers" (1 John 2:12 - 14).
A complete Christian life
Paul outlined three works that are involved in a complete Christian life: "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them" (Eph. 2:8 - 10, emphasis added).
1. First, there is the work God does for us, which is salvation. Jesus Christ completed this work on the Cross. If we trust Him, He will save us.
2. Second, there is the work God does in us - "For we are His workmanship." This work is known as sanctification - God builds our character and we become more like Jesus Christ - "... to be conformed to the image of His Son" (Rom. 8:29).
3. The third work is what God does through us (in Christian service) - "... created in Christ Jesus for good works."
Character before service
God builds our character before He calls us to service. He must work in us before He can work through us. God spent 25 years working in Abraham before He could give him his promised son. God worked 13 years in Joseph's life, putting him into "various testings" before He could put him on the throne of Egypt. He spent 80 years preparing Moses for 40 years of service. Our Lord took three years training His disciples, buildig their character,
But God cannot work in us without our consent. There must be a surrendered will. The mature person does not argue with God's will; instead, he accepts it willingly and obeys it joyfully.
Paul said: "... doing the will of God from the heart" (Eph. 6:6).
If we try to go through trials without surrendered wills, we will end up more like immature children than mature adults.
4. A believing heart - ask (James 1:5 - 8)
The people to whom James wrote had problem with their praying (James 4:1 - 3 and James 5:13 - 18). When we are going through difficulties, what should we pray about? James gives the answer - ask God for wisdom.
James has a great deal to say about wisdom (James 1:5; 3:13 - 18). The Jewish people were lovers of wisdom, as the Book of Proverbs gives evidence. Someone has said that knowledge is the ability to take things apart, while wisdom is the ability to put them together. Wisdom is the right use of knowledge. All of us know people who are educated fools - they have brilliant academic records, but they cannot make the simplest decisions to life.
Why do we need wisdom when we are going through trials? Why not ask for strength, or grace, or even deliverance? I believe we need wisfom so we will not waste the opportunities God is giving us to mature. Wisdom helps us understand how to use these circumstances for our good and God's glory.
Greatest enemy to answered prayer - unbelief or doubt
James compares the doubting believer to the waves of the sea, up one minute and down the next. A "double-minded man" behaves like this - Faith says, "Yes!" but unbelief says, "No!" Then doubt comes along and says, "Yes!" one minute and "No!" the next. It was doubt that made Peter sink in the waves as he was walking to Jesus (Matt. 14:22 - 33). When Peter started his walk of faith, he kept his eyes on Christ. But when he was distracted by the wind and the waves, he ceased to walk by faith; and he began to sink. He was double-minded, and almost drowned.
Many Christians live like corks on the waves - up one minute, down the next; tossed back and forth. This kind of experience is evidence of immaturity.
Paul used a similar idea in Ephesians: "... that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting" (Eph. 4:14).
If we have believing and united hearts, we can ask in faith and God will give the wisdom we need. Instability and immaturity go together.
James close this session with a beatitude - "Blessed is the man who endures temptation; ..." (James 1:12). He started "... count it all joy ..." (James 1:2) and ended with joy. Outlook determines outcome. This beatitude is a great encouragement because it promises a crown to those who patiently endure trials. Paul often used athletic illustrations in his Epistles, and James does so here. He is not saying that the sinner is saved by enduring trials. He is saying that the believer is rewarded by enduring trials.
How is he rewarded? He is rewarded by growth in Christian character. This is more important than anything else. He is rewarded also by bringing glory to God and by being granted a crown of life when Jesus Christ returns.
In James 1:12, James used a very important word, "love." - "... he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him" (Emphasis added).
Love is the spiritual force behind the imperatives James gives us. If we love God, we will have no problem counting, knowing, letting and asking!
No comments:
Post a Comment